


the church bells chime

by arecumbentibus



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Eve, Christmas Mass, F/M, First Christmas, Hanukkah, Holidays, Poetry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-17
Updated: 2016-12-17
Packaged: 2018-09-09 06:06:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8878831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arecumbentibus/pseuds/arecumbentibus
Summary: light, they learn that twilight, is not just at the end of the tunnel – it is also inside each and every one of them, just waiting to come out and intercept





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hey all! This is my free style sort of-maybe poem for a mix of the holidays and Jake and Amy from Brooklyn Nine-Nine. It was loosely inspired by the poem and song, "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day," which has been a personal favourite of mine since I was a child because I adore the sound of church bells ringing. I wanted to incorporate that aspect into this piece while still making it light and filled with holiday cheer, so hopefully I accomplished that and the people who read this gain something from it. 
> 
> As a final remark, happy holidays to all of you and I hope your new year is merry, bright, and filled with the sounds of church bells!

_ding-ding-ding-ding!_

the church bells chime in exclamation

and as he turns, he sees her standing there in red

 

his breath dispels in stagnation,

floating briefly in front of his face

before disappearing and _he is_

 

lost in thought, lost in time:

always, forever, infinitely lost

in her, to her

 

the click of her heels – ruby to match –

echoes across the cement pavement and

delivers itself to his ears; she walks gracefully

and does not fall

 

meeting – they meet in the middle, at the

point of _interception_ and the bells ring on

 

_ding_

_d i n g_

_d   i   n   g_

_d        i        n       g_

_d                  i          n         g_

the vibrations carrying themselves

in close syndication, varying against

the cold and unforgiving air

 

she reaches for his hand,

and he allows her to ~~take~~ share

his heart, a fluttering vessel

of shared affection and sacred

vulnerability

 

their eyes close in on one another;

unblinking in the frost of winter

that gnaws at their already iced-over

bones and surrounds them with imagery

of arctic blue when all he wants to block

his vision is scarlet, when all she –

 

she smiles and it starts to snow;

her lips are flushed, drawn across

with lipstick that shimmers and held

together with a mouth full of pearly whites

 

it’s only then that he notices she

doesn’t have a coat on

 

and the bells?

they do not stop

 

he pulls her in, caressing the exterior of

her body with his pea coat-clad one

and wipes the snow from her hair,

dark as night against the falling ivory

 

they trudge across the walkway,

their breaths distilling before mingling

with the atmosphere as they continue

their footwork

 

_ding –_

_ding –_

_ding – !_

 

underneath the archway of the

glistening, candle-lit cathedral they

amalgamate themselves, shimmered

lipstick sticking against his wind-chapped

lips and their eyes staying closed both in trust

and resistance to bone-chilling cold; they

create a pillar of heat that could melt away

any ice and slowly break away, beaming with well-adorned joy

 

he is the first to break the silence,

quite predictably, and it pulls from

his spirit, the feeling of genuinely:

 

_“Merry Christmas,_

_Amy Santiago.”_

 

she swipes her thumb against the

crevice between his two lips in initial

response, holding his face so tenderly

that his knees feel too heavy and

there’s a sudden possibility that

he could cry – from love and no, not

the “kicked in ribcage-d heart” kind

 

the sentence comes out so silently

that it could mix with the blanketed

snow, that his half-frozen ears nearly

miss her warm words:

 

_“Happy Hanukkah,_

_Jacob Peralta.”_

a slight pause and then:

_“I love you.”_

 

the bells sing and the church organ plays

with the beat of their confessional as he

delivers her a most holy gift in return, only

once or twice used:

 

_“I love you, too.”_

 

the church bells resound one last time

and the cathedral doors open, signaling

the passage of midnight – idly, they each

catalogue the landscape of this first winter

holiday spent in unison and hold each other’s

hand firmer before hearing the priest’s lesson

 

_light_ , they learn that twilight, _is not just at_

_the end of the tunnel – it is also inside each_

_and every one of them_ , just waiting to

come out and intercept

 

snow continues falling outside,

and the stars shine in the navy-black

canvas of night; all is right in the universe

as she leans against him and their luminosity

becomes even more transparent


End file.
